Dim lights, no script, crafty punch lines, constant laughter and the smell of coffee wafting through the air — not quite your typical Friday night.
It is Family Dinner night at Perks Coffee & Tea on Perkins Road, a tradition that is gaining steam.
Adam Wilson and Christin Wasiloski, University graduates and co-founders of The Family Dinner Comedy Troupe, said the group has performed the improvisational comedy show at Perks every other week at 9 p.m. for the past two years.
Wilson said the comedy troupe formed in the fall of 2002 when a group of friends from the University improvisational production, “MIU:2 — Making it Up … As We Go Along,” sat down for dinner to discuss forming a new group after MIU ended.
A former member of the group said it seemed like they were sitting down to a family dinner. The name stuck, Wilson said.
                                                                                             
The troupe has performed 68 shows, about half of those at Perks, Wilson said.
All thirteen original members were University students, but since then, the group has changed dramatically, Wasiloski said.
A few of the members are still in high school, Wasiloski said.
“But you wouldn’t know it just by watching them,” she said. “They are funny beyond their years.”
Wasiloski said the troupe has performed all over Louisiana, but makes it back to Perks every other Friday night because they love the atmosphere.
The troupe also organizes comedy workshops whenever someone expresses interest, Wasiloski said.
“We work on delivery, timing and stage presence,” she said. “It’s always fun to do.”
Michael Mahaffey, owner of Perks Coffee and Tea, said he met the troupe through a mutual friend and arranged for them to perform at Perks.
“From the second time they came, we had a pretty consistent crowd,” he said.
Mahaffey said he enjoys having the crew there, and thinks they are genuinely funny.
“It’s a different type of entertainment than what a lot of college students would be used to,” he said. “It begins at a fairly early time. It’s something you can take a date to or a friend to, then go out and do whatever you want to do, rather than going out and seeing bands every night.”
Wilson said the show’s content changes every week, but they mostly do sketches and improv games with heavy audience participation.
“The show is built with the audience in mind,” he said. “They give us suggestions and steer which way the show goes.”
About half of the audience is regulars, but they integrate newcomers into the scenes as well, Wilson said.
“There really is something for everybody,” he said. “It’s universal humor. When you’re at our show, you’re part of it, whether you like it or not, for better or worse.”
James Brown, Family Dinner member and resident life coordinator of East Campus Apartments, said he loves working with the troupe.
“I work with a lot of people I really respect,” he said. “It’s among the most fun things I’ve done, period.”
Brown said he loves the spontaneity of improvisational comedy. In stand-up comedy, the comedian creates the show and rehearses his lines, he said.
“It’s not like that in improv,” he said. “You never know what your partner will say — or even what you will say ten seconds from now.”
Most members of The Family Dinner also are stand-up comics who regularly perform at SoGo LIVE!, a new venue located downtown near Argosy Casino.
Wasiloski said venues like SoGo LIVE! are helping to expand the comedy scene in Baton Rouge.
“The scene in Baton Rouge is really growing fast,” she said. “We have something at least once a week now, where we didn’t have much before.”
One thing Baton Rouge still lacks is female comediennes, Wasiloski said.
“I think you just have to have the right personality,” she said. “You have to be able to be self deprecating, which not all girls can do.”
Brown said he hopes the scene will continue to develop and assist the revitalization of the capital city.
“For right now, I’m really enjoying it for what it is,” Brown said. “And who knows, maybe one day instead of retiring to Las Vegas, comics will retire to Baton Rouge.”